Sugar Creek Wood Cleaning

[Don Harwood]

Andy Cheshier, Nick Hobbs, and myself are planning to clean the dangerous wood from Sugar Creek this Sunday.
We need help!
There is a lot of wood in there and it's going to take some work to get it out.
If we can get enough help it will be a much more feasible encounter.
We plan to meet at the Knoppers Ford campground at 10:00 am Sunday morning. Thats 10/19/08.
If you are a local boater who enjoys running Sugar Creek or even would like to run Sugar you should come on out and pitch in!
All saws are welcome! So bring em if you got em!
Of course, if we get rain and have something to paddle, all bets are off! At least until later that is!
We really need to get in there and get this done before the cold weather.
Come on out and help if there's any way you can make it !!!

[Fish]

Keep in mind that the ACC is an environmentally oriented organization, and we want to protect the riparian environment from human encroachment. So please use biodegradable chainsaws when clearing wood out of the creeks.

Thank you for your cooperation,
Fish

[Fish]

Seriously, I'll probably be there. Was planning on camping and hiking this weekend anyway, so this will probably fit right into my plans.

And while we're there, I've got a bonus ACC travel mug to anyone who can find and retrieve a blow log for the NW Chapter party!

- Fish

[jjones03]

thats exciting...i really enjoyed sugar with the trees...it will be awesome minus the portages

[rublelvr]

I am interested in helping on Sunday but since I live roughly 160 miles away I would need to have a definate assurance that the wood cleaning would occur or the time and gas wasted would not be good. Let me know if it is definately going to occur and I'll bring the ol saw and lend a helping hand.

[Don Harwood]

Will do rublelvr, I will post something definite before the weekend.
Probably friday.
Wow, 160 miles to come help, outstanding!

[smcurtis]

I will help. It will get me out of the house and let Jessica sleep since she has to work Saturday and Sunday nights.

Sean

[rublelvr]

I appreciate that and will be watching closer to the weekend. I must admit my reasons are not completely altruistic since I want to learn more about the Sugar Creek area and possibly get to run it this winter with my brother. Besides it cannot hurt a neophyte to the kayaking scene to be around veteran creekers!

[iYak]

I'll be there. The creek is long and there is a lot of wood, so we'll need all the help we can get.

I'll be wearing dry pants and kayak shoes in anticipation of the poison ivy and the possibility of wadding in the water (you shouldn't need to cross the creek, but if you help with the downed logs you might get wet.) Don't let that scare you, it should be a beautiful hike and you will get to see many nice rapids of the creek, just be prepared. Bring a backpack with water, or Camelbak, and some snacks.

If you haven't done Sugar Creek, it's a fantastic run at medium to high water. If you've done Sugar at a lowish level,it ain't much. Personally, I normally won't run it in the lowish range. But at medium to high water it is a hoot. At high water it is a constant thrill ride, and if you can handle playing holes on the fly while doing some fast creeking it is a great play run. It's definitly worth taking the time for a pre-run scout just so you can figure out where the dangerous bridge is and to find the putin and takeout. The weather patterns change, but at times it runs more often than many of the other creeks, so it is definitly worth our time to make it safe while enjoying a nice fall hike through woods.

[Cowper]

So please use biodegradable chainsaws when clearing wood out of the creeks.

Thank you for your cooperation,
Fish

No kidding, the only thing I use is BioPlus, a vegetable based bar oil that biodegrades and is much less damaging to the marine environment than traditional "petro" bar oils. It's a hassle because I have to special order it and it costs more, but, you can see visible difference immediately when your wood chips land on water - there is less of that rainbow sheen, and it dissipates more quickly.
http://www.stihlusa.com/lubricants/barc ... ml#bioplus" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I also encourage all participants to take the time (less than 5 minutes) to go review this article on the AWA web page:
"Strainers, Large Woody Debris, Removal, and Ecology"
http://www.awa.org/content/Article_view ... splay_full_" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It provides a very good discussion on things to think about to keep your impacts on the local ecology within reasonable bounds.

[rublelvr]

Thanks for the info guys, I'm anxious to see the Sugar Creek area, it sounds great. Never would have thought of "green" bar chain oil, learned something new there. I doubt I can find any in this small town but I will certainly try. Hope to see you guys Sunday.

[Fish]

Cowper, do you have a site where you order the bio-chain-oil online? Might help for folks who want to order some.

- Fish

[Don Harwood]

Thanks for posting those links, Cowper!
Very interesting!

[panicman]

If I can't make it just be sure to get the really dangerous one out that is about 3/4 mile above knobbers ford which is right before what some people call stairstep. That local with the innertube that day would really appreciate that log being removed also. It will definatly take a chain saw.

[Cowper]

I haven't been able to find the Stihl product on-line, only statements about how they "support their dealers and don't sell on-line". You would think there would be at least one on-line dealer, but so far I haven't found one that sells the oil.

David's Small Engine, north of Mayflower on Hwy 365 stocked it after I requested it multiple times, and any Stihl dealer should be able to special order it although most will have to call their supplier to find this out; they just aren't used to anyone caring enough to pay a little extra for the product.

A similar product I found on-line was this, but I haven't personally used this one.
http://www.baileysonline.com/itemdetail.asp?item=17071" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;